Good News Translation (GNT)

In Thessalonica

1 Paul and Silas traveled on through Amphipolis and Apollonia and came to Thessalonica, where there was a synagogue.

2 According to his usual habit Paul went to the synagogue. There during three Sabbaths he held discussions with the people, quoting

3 and explaining the Scriptures, and proving from them that the Messiah had to suffer and rise from death. “This Jesus whom I announce to you,” Paul said, “is the Messiah.”

4 Some of them were convinced and joined Paul and Silas; so did many of the leading women and a large group of Greeks who worshiped God.

5 But some Jews were jealous and gathered worthless loafers from the streets and formed a mob. They set the whole city in an uproar and attacked the home of a man named Jason, in an attempt to find Paul and Silas and bring them out to the people.

6 But when they did not find them, they dragged Jason and some other believers before the city authorities and shouted, “These men have caused trouble everywhere! Now they have come to our city,

7 and Jason has kept them in his house. They are all breaking the laws of the Emperor, saying that there is another king, whose name is Jesus.”

8 With these words they threw the crowd and the city authorities in an uproar.

9 The authorities made Jason and the others pay the required amount of money to be released, and then let them go.

In Berea

10 As soon as night came, the believers sent Paul and Silas to Berea. When they arrived, they went to the synagogue.

11 The people there were more open-minded than the people in Thessalonica. They listened to the message with great eagerness, and every day they studied the Scriptures to see if what Paul said was really true.

12 Many of them believed; and many Greek women of high social standing and many Greek men also believed.

13 But when the Jews in Thessalonica heard that Paul had preached the word of God in Berea also, they came there and started exciting and stirring up the mobs.

14 At once the believers sent Paul away to the coast; but both Silas and Timothy stayed in Berea.

15 The men who were taking Paul went with him as far as Athens and then returned to Berea with instructions from Paul that Silas and Timothy should join him as soon as possible.

In Athens

16 While Paul was waiting in Athens for Silas and Timothy, he was greatly upset when he noticed how full of idols the city was.

17 So he held discussions in the synagogue with the Jews and with the Gentiles who worshiped God, and also in the public square every day with the people who happened to come by.

18 Certain Epicurean and Stoic teachers also debated with him. Some of them asked, “What is this ignorant show-off trying to say?”

Others answered, “He seems to be talking about foreign gods.” They said this because Paul was preaching about Jesus and the resurrection.

19 So they took Paul, brought him before the city council, the Areopagus, and said, “We would like to know what this new teaching is that you are talking about.

20 Some of the things we hear you say sound strange to us, and we would like to know what they mean.” (

21 For all the citizens of Athens and the foreigners who lived there liked to spend all their time telling and hearing the latest new thing.)

22 Paul stood up in front of the city council and said, “I see that in every way you Athenians are very religious.

23 For as I walked through your city and looked at the places where you worship, I found an altar on which is written, ‘To an Unknown God.’ That which you worship, then, even though you do not know it, is what I now proclaim to you.

24 God, who made the world and everything in it, is Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples made by human hands.

25 Nor does he need anything that we can supply by working for him, since it is he himself who gives life and breath and everything else to everyone.

26 From one human being he created all races of people and made them live throughout the whole earth. He himself fixed beforehand the exact times and the limits of the places where they would live.

27 He did this so that they would look for him, and perhaps find him as they felt around for him. Yet God is actually not far from any one of us;

28 as someone has said,

‘In him we live and move and exist.’

It is as some of your poets have said,

‘We too are his children.’

29 Since we are God’s children, we should not suppose that his nature is anything like an image of gold or silver or stone, shaped by human art and skill.

30 God has overlooked the times when people did not know him, but now he commands all of them everywhere to turn away from their evil ways.

31 For he has fixed a day in which he will judge the whole world with justice by means of a man he has chosen. He has given proof of this to everyone by raising that man from death!”

32 When they heard Paul speak about a raising from death, some of them made fun of him, but others said, “We want to hear you speak about this again.”

33 And so Paul left the meeting.

34 Some men joined him and believed, among whom was Dionysius, a member of the council; there was also a woman named Damaris, and some other people.

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In Corinth

1 After this, Paul left Athens and went on to Corinth.

2 There he met a Jew named Aquila, born in Pontus, who had recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, for Emperor Claudius had ordered all the Jews to leave Rome. Paul went to see them,

3 and stayed and worked with them, because he earned his living by making tents, just as they did.

4 He held discussions in the synagogue every Sabbath, trying to convince both Jews and Greeks.

5 When Silas and Timothy arrived from Macedonia, Paul gave his whole time to preaching the message, testifying to the Jews that Jesus is the Messiah.

6 When they opposed him and said evil things about him, he protested by shaking the dust from his clothes and saying to them, “If you are lost, you yourselves must take the blame for it! I am not responsible. From now on I will go to the Gentiles.”

7 So he left them and went to live in the house of a Gentile named Titius Justus, who worshiped God; his house was next to the synagogue.

8 Crispus, who was the leader of the synagogue, believed in the Lord, together with all his family; and many other people in Corinth heard the message, believed, and were baptized.

9 One night Paul had a vision in which the Lord said to him, “Do not be afraid, but keep on speaking and do not give up,

10 for I am with you. No one will be able to harm you, for many in this city are my people.”

11 So Paul stayed there for a year and a half, teaching the people the word of God.

12 When Gallio was made the Roman governor of Achaia, Jews there got together, seized Paul, and took him into court.

13 “This man,” they said, “is trying to persuade people to worship God in a way that is against the law!”

14 Paul was about to speak when Gallio said to the Jews, “If this were a matter of some evil crime or wrong that has been committed, it would be reasonable for me to be patient with you Jews.

15 But since it is an argument about words and names and your own law, you yourselves must settle it. I will not be the judge of such things!”

16 And he drove them out of the court.

17 They all grabbed Sosthenes, the leader of the synagogue, and beat him in front of the court. But that did not bother Gallio a bit.

The Return to Antioch

18 Paul stayed on with the believers in Corinth for many days, then left them and sailed off with Priscilla and Aquila for Syria. Before sailing from Cenchreae he had his head shaved because of a vow he had taken.

19 They arrived in Ephesus, where Paul left Priscilla and Aquila. He went into the synagogue and held discussions with the Jews.

20 The people asked him to stay longer, but he would not consent.

21 Instead, he told them as he left, “If it is the will of God, I will come back to you.” And so he sailed from Ephesus.

22 When he arrived at Caesarea, he went to Jerusalem and greeted the church, and then went to Antioch.

23 After spending some time there, he left and went through the region of Galatia and Phrygia, strengthening all the believers.

Apollos in Ephesus and Corinth

24 At that time a Jew named Apollos, who had been born in Alexandria, came to Ephesus. He was an eloquent speaker and had a thorough knowledge of the Scriptures.

25 He had been instructed in the Way of the Lord, and with great enthusiasm he proclaimed and taught correctly the facts about Jesus. However, he knew only the baptism of John.

26 He began to speak boldly in the synagogue. When Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him home with them and explained to him more correctly the Way of God.

27 Apollos then decided to go to Achaia, so the believers in Ephesus helped him by writing to the believers in Achaia, urging them to welcome him. When he arrived, he was a great help to those who through God’s grace had become believers.

28 For with his strong arguments he defeated the Jews in public debates by proving from the Scriptures that Jesus is the Messiah.

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Paul in Ephesus

1 While Apollos was in Corinth, Paul traveled through the interior of the province and arrived in Ephesus. There he found some disciples

2 and asked them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you became believers?”

“We have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit,” they answered.

3 “Well, then, what kind of baptism did you receive?” Paul asked.

“The baptism of John,” they answered.

4 Paul said, “The baptism of John was for those who turned from their sins; and he told the people of Israel to believe in the one who was coming after him—that is, in Jesus.”

5 When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.

6 Paul placed his hands on them, and the Holy Spirit came upon them; they spoke in strange tongues and also proclaimed God’s message.

7 They were about twelve men in all.

8 Paul went into the synagogue and for three months spoke boldly with the people, holding discussions with them and trying to convince them about the Kingdom of God.

9 But some of them were stubborn and would not believe, and before the whole group they said evil things about the Way of the Lord. So Paul left them and took the believers with him, and every dayhe held discussions in the lecture hall of Tyrannus.

10 This went on for two years, so that all the people who lived in the province of Asia, both Jews and Gentiles, heard the word of the Lord.

The Sons of Sceva

11 God was performing unusual miracles through Paul.

12 Even handkerchiefs and aprons he had used were taken to the sick, and their diseases were driven away, and the evil spirits would go out of them.

13 Some Jews who traveled around and drove out evil spirits also tried to use the name of the Lord Jesus to do this. They said to the evil spirits, “I command you in the name of Jesus, whom Paul preaches.”

14 Seven brothers, who were the sons of a Jewish High Priest named Sceva, were doing this.

15 But the evil spirit said to them, “I know Jesus, and I know about Paul; but you—who are you?”

16 The man who had the evil spirit in him attacked them with such violence that he overpowered them all. They ran away from his house, wounded and with their clothes torn off.

17 All the Jews and Gentiles who lived in Ephesus heard about this; they were all filled with fear, and the name of the Lord Jesus was given greater honor.

18 Many of the believers came, publicly admitting and revealing what they had done.

19 Many of those who had practiced magic brought their books together and burned them in public. They added up the price of the books, and the total came to fifty thousand silver coins.

20 In this powerful way the word of the Lordkept spreading and growing stronger.

The Riot in Ephesus

21 After these things had happened, Paul made up his mindto travel through Macedonia and Achaia and go on to Jerusalem. “After I go there,” he said, “I must also see Rome.”

22 So he sent Timothy and Erastus, two of his helpers, to Macedonia, while he spent more time in the province of Asia.

23 It was at this time that there was serious trouble in Ephesus because of the Way of the Lord.

24 A certain silversmith named Demetrius made silver models of the temple of the goddess Artemis, and his business brought a great deal of profit to the workers.

25 So he called them all together with others whose work was like theirs and said to them, “Men, you know that our prosperity comes from this work.

26 Now, you can see and hear for yourselves what this fellow Paul is doing. He says that hand-made gods are not gods at all, and he has succeeded in convincing many people, both here in Ephesus and in nearly the whole province of Asia.

27 There is the danger, then, that this business of ours will get a bad name. Not only that, but there is also the danger that the temple of the great goddess Artemis will come to mean nothing and that her greatness will be destroyed—the goddess worshiped by everyone in Asia and in all the world!”

28 As the crowd heard these words, they became furious and started shouting, “Great is Artemis of Ephesus!”

29 The uproar spread throughout the whole city. The mob grabbed Gaius and Aristarchus, two Macedonians who were traveling with Paul, and rushed with them to the theater.

30 Paul himself wanted to go before the crowd, but the believers would not let him.

31 Some of the provincial authorities, who were his friends, also sent him a message begging him not to show himself in the theater.

32 Meanwhile the whole meeting was in an uproar: some people were shouting one thing, others were shouting something else, because most of them did not even know why they had come together.

33 Some of the people concluded that Alexander was responsible, since the Jews made him go up to the front. Then Alexander motioned with his hand for the people to be silent, and he tried to make a speech of defense.

34 But when they recognized that he was a Jew, they all shouted together the same thing for two hours: “Great is Artemis of Ephesus!”

35 At last the city clerk was able to calm the crowd. “Fellow Ephesians!” he said. “Everyone knows that the city of Ephesus is the keeper of the temple of the great Artemis and of the sacred stone that fell down from heaven.

36 Nobody can deny these things. So then, you must calm down and not do anything reckless.

37 You have brought these men here even though they have not robbed temples or said evil things about our goddess.

38 If Demetrius and his workers have an accusation against anyone, we have the authorities and the regular days for court; charges can be made there.

39 But if there is something more that you want, it will have to be settled in a legal meeting of citizens.

40 For after what has happened today, there is the danger that we will be accused of a riot. There is no excuse for all this uproar, and we would not be able to give a good reason for it.”

41 After saying this, he dismissed the meeting.

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To Macedonia and Achaia

1 After the uproar died down, Paul called together the believers and with words of encouragement said good-bye to them. Then he left and went on to Macedonia.

2 He went through those regions and encouraged the people with many messages. Then he came to Achaia,

3 where he stayed three months. He was getting ready to go to Syria when he discovered that there were Jews plotting against him; so he decided to go back through Macedonia.

4 Sopater son of Pyrrhus, from Berea, went with him; so did Aristarchus and Secundus, from Thessalonica; Gaius, from Derbe; Tychicus and Trophimus, from the province of Asia; and Timothy.

5 They went ahead and waited for us in Troas.

6 We sailed from Philippi after the Festival of Unleavened Bread, and five days later we joined them in Troas, where we spent a week.

Paul’s Last Visit to Troas

7 On Saturdayevening we gathered together for the fellowship meal. Paul spoke to the people and kept on speaking until midnight, since he was going to leave the next day.

8 Many lamps were burning in the upstairs room where we were meeting.

9 A young man named Eutychus was sitting in the window, and as Paul kept on talking, Eutychus got sleepier and sleepier, until he finally went sound asleep and fell from the third story to the ground. When they picked him up, he was dead.

10 But Paul went down and threw himself on him and hugged him. “Don’t worry,” he said, “he is still alive!”

11 Then he went back upstairs, broke bread, and ate. After talking with them for a long time, even until sunrise, Paul left.

12 They took the young man home alive and were greatly comforted.

From Troas to Miletus

13 We went on ahead to the ship and sailed off to Assos, where we were going to take Paul aboard. He had told us to do this, because he was going there by land.

14 When he met us in Assos, we took him aboard and went on to Mitylene.

15 We sailed from there and arrived off Chios the next day. A day later we came to Samos, and the following day we reached Miletus.

16 Paul had decided to sail on by Ephesus, so as not to lose any time in the province of Asia. He was in a hurry to arrive in Jerusalem by the day of Pentecost, if at all possible.

Paul’s Farewell Speech to the Elders of Ephesus

17 From Miletus Paul sent a message to Ephesus, asking the elders of the church to meet him.

18 When they arrived, he said to them, “You know how I spent the whole time I was with you, from the first day I arrived in the province of Asia.

19 With all humility and many tears I did my work as the Lord’s servant during the hard times that came to me because of the plots of some Jews.

20 You know that I did not hold back anything that would be of help to you as I preached and taught in public and in your homes.

21 To Jews and Gentiles alike I gave solemn warning that they should turn from their sins to God and believe in our Lord Jesus.

22 And now, in obedience to the Holy Spirit I am going to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there.

23 I only know that in every city the Holy Spirit has warned me that prison and troubles wait for me.

24 But I reckon my own life to be worth nothing to me; I only want to complete my mission and finish the work that the Lord Jesus gave me to do, which is to declare the Good News about the grace of God.

25 “I have gone about among all of you, preaching the Kingdom of God. And now I know that none of you will ever see me again.

26 So I solemnly declare to you this very day: if any of you should be lost, I am not responsible.

27 For I have not held back from announcing to you the whole purpose of God.

28 So keep watch over yourselves and over all the flock which the Holy Spirit has placed in your care. Be shepherds of the church of God,which he made his own through the blood of his Son.

29 I know that after I leave, fierce wolves will come among you, and they will not spare the flock.

30 The time will come when some men from your own group will tell lies to lead the believers away after them.

31 Watch, then, and remember that with many tears, day and night, I taught every one of you for three years.

32 “And now I commend you to the care of God and to the message of his grace, which is able to build you up and give you the blessings God has for all his people.

33 I have not wanted anyone’s silver or gold or clothing.

34 You yourselves know that I have worked with these hands of mine to provide everything that my companions and I have needed.

35 I have shown you in all things that by working hard in this way we must help the weak, remembering the words that the Lord Jesus himself said, ‘There is more happiness in giving than in receiving.’”

36 When Paul finished, he knelt down with them and prayed.

37 They were all crying as they hugged him and kissed him good-bye.

38 They were especially sad because he had said that they would never see him again. And so they went with him to the ship.

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Paul Goes to Jerusalem

1 We said good-bye to them and left. After sailing straight across, we came to Cos; the next day we reached Rhodes, and from there we went on to Patara.

2 There we found a ship that was going to Phoenicia, so we went aboard and sailed away.

3 We came to where we could see Cyprus, and then sailed south of it on to Syria. We went ashore at Tyre, where the ship was going to unload its cargo.

4 There we found some believers and stayed with them a week. By the power of the Spirit they told Paul not to go to Jerusalem.

5 But when our time with them was over, we left and went on our way. All of them, together with their wives and children, went with us out of the city to the beach, where we all knelt and prayed.

6 Then we said good-bye to one another, and we went on board the ship while they went back home.

7 We continued our voyage, sailing from Tyre to Ptolemais, where we greeted the believers and stayed with them for a day.

8 On the following day we left and arrived in Caesarea. There we stayed at the house of Philip the evangelist, one of the seven men who had been chosen as helpers in Jerusalem.

9 He had four unmarried daughters who proclaimed God’s message.

10 We had been there for several days when a prophet named Agabus arrived from Judea.

11 He came to us, took Paul’s belt, tied up his own feet and hands with it, and said, “This is what the Holy Spirit says: The owner of this belt will be tied up in this way by the Jews in Jerusalem, and they will hand him over to the Gentiles.”

12 When we heard this, we and the others there begged Paul not to go to Jerusalem.

13 But he answered, “What are you doing, crying like this and breaking my heart? I am ready not only to be tied up in Jerusalem but even to die there for the sake of the Lord Jesus.”

14 We could not convince him, so we gave up and said, “May the Lord’s will be done.”

15 After spending some time there, we got our things ready and left for Jerusalem.

16 Some of the disciples from Caesarea also went with us and took us to the house of the man we were going to stay with—Mnason, from Cyprus, who had been a believer since the early days.

Paul Visits James

17 When we arrived in Jerusalem, the believers welcomed us warmly.

18 The next day Paul went with us to see James; and all the church elders were present.

19 Paul greeted them and gave a complete report of everything that God had done among the Gentiles through his work.

20 After hearing him, they all praised God. Then they said, “Brother Paul, you can see how many thousands of Jews have become believers, and how devoted they all are to the Law.

21 They have been told that you have been teaching all the Jews who live in Gentile countries to abandon the Law of Moses, telling them not to circumcise their children or follow the Jewish customs.

22 They are sure to hear that you have arrived. What should be done, then?

23 This is what we want you to do. There are four men here who have taken a vow.

24 Go along with them and join them in the ceremony of purification and pay their expenses; then they will be able to shave their heads.In this way everyone will know that there is no truth in any of the things that they have been told about you, but that you yourself live in accordance with the Law of Moses.

25 But as for the Gentiles who have become believers, we have sent them a letter telling them we decided that they must not eat any food that has been offered to idols, or any blood, or any animal that has been strangled, and that they must keep themselves from sexual immorality.”

26 So Paul took the men and the next day performed the ceremony of purification with them. Then he went into the Temple and gave notice of how many days it would be until the end of the period of purification, when a sacrifice would be offered for each one of them.

Paul Is Arrested in the Temple

27 But just when the seven days were about to come to an end, some Jews from the province of Asia saw Paul in the Temple. They stirred up the whole crowd and grabbed Paul.

28 “People of Israel!” they shouted. “Help! This is the man who goes everywhere teaching everyone against the people of Israel, the Law of Moses, and this Temple. And now he has even brought some Gentiles into the Temple and defiled this holy place!” (

29 They said this because they had seen Trophimus from Ephesus with Paul in the city, and they thought that Paul had taken him into the Temple.)

30 Confusion spread through the whole city, and the people all ran together, grabbed Paul, and dragged him out of the Temple. At once the Temple doors were closed.

31 The mob was trying to kill Paul, when a report was sent up to the commander of the Roman troops that all of Jerusalem was rioting.

32 At once the commander took some officers and soldiers and rushed down to the crowd. When the people saw him with the soldiers, they stopped beating Paul.

33 The commander went over to Paul, arrested him, and ordered him to be bound with two chains. Then he asked, “Who is this man, and what has he done?”

34 Some in the crowd shouted one thing, others something else. There was such confusion that the commander could not find out exactly what had happened, so he ordered his men to take Paul up into the fort.

35 They got as far as the steps with him, and then the soldiers had to carry him because the mob was so wild.

36 They were all coming after him and screaming, “Kill him!”

Paul Defends Himself

37 As the soldiers were about to take Paul into the fort, he spoke to the commander: “May I say something to you?”

“You speak Greek, do you?” the commander asked.

38 “Then you are not that Egyptian fellow who some time ago started a revolution and led four thousand armed terrorists out into the desert?”

39 Paul answered, “I am a Jew, born in Tarsus in Cilicia, a citizen of an important city. Please let me speak to the people.”

40 The commander gave him permission, so Paul stood on the steps and motioned with his hand for the people to be silent. When they were quiet, Paul spoke to them in Hebrew:

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1 “My fellow Jews, listen to me as I make my defense before you!”

2 When they heard him speaking to them in Hebrew, they became even quieter; and Paul went on:

3 “I am a Jew, born in Tarsus in Cilicia, but brought up here in Jerusalem as a student of Gamaliel. I received strict instruction in the Law of our ancestors and was just as dedicated to God as are all of you who are here today.

4 I persecuted to the death the people who followed this Way. I arrested men and women and threw them into prison.

5 The High Priest and the whole Council can prove that I am telling the truth. I received from them letters written to fellow Jews in Damascus, so I went there to arrest these people and bring them back in chains to Jerusalem to be punished.

Paul Tells of His Conversion

6 “As I was traveling and coming near Damascus, about midday a bright light from the sky flashed suddenly around me.

7 I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, ‘Saul, Saul! Why do you persecute me?’

8 ‘Who are you, Lord?’ I asked. ‘I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom you persecute,’ he said to me.

9 The men with me saw the light, but did not hear the voice of the one who was speaking to me.

10 I asked, ‘What shall I do, Lord?’ and the Lord said to me, ‘Get up and go into Damascus, and there you will be told everything that God has determined for you to do.’

11 I was blind because of the bright light, and so my companions took me by the hand and led me into Damascus.

12 “In that city was a man named Ananias, a religious man who obeyed our Law and was highly respected by all the Jews living there.

13 He came to me, stood by me, and said, ‘Brother Saul, see again!’ At that very moment I saw again and looked at him.

14 He said, ‘The God of our ancestors has chosen you to know his will, to see his righteous Servant, and to hear him speaking with his own voice.

15 For you will be a witness for him to tell everyone what you have seen and heard.

16 And now, why wait any longer? Get up and be baptized and have your sins washed away by praying to him.’

Paul’s Call to Preach to the Gentiles

17 “I went back to Jerusalem, and while I was praying in the Temple, I had a vision,

18 in which I saw the Lord, as he said to me, ‘Hurry and leave Jerusalem quickly, because the people here will not accept your witness about me.’

19 ‘Lord,’ I answered, ‘they know very well that I went to the synagogues and arrested and beat those who believe in you.

20 And when your witness Stephen was put to death, I myself was there, approving of his murder and taking care of the cloaks of his murderers.’

21 ‘Go,’ the Lord said to me, ‘for I will send you far away to the Gentiles.’”

22 The people listened to Paul until he said this; but then they started shouting at the top of their voices, “Away with him! Kill him! He’s not fit to live!”

23 They were screaming, waving their clothes, and throwing dust up in the air.

24 The Roman commander ordered his men to take Paul into the fort, and he told them to whip him in order to find out why the Jews were screaming like this against him.

25 But when they had tied him up to be whipped, Paul said to the officer standing there, “Is it lawful for you to whip a Roman citizen who hasn’t even been tried for any crime?”

26 When the officer heard this, he went to the commander and asked him, “What are you doing? That man is a Roman citizen!”

27 So the commander went to Paul and asked him, “Tell me, are you a Roman citizen?”

“Yes,” answered Paul.

28 The commander said, “I became one by paying a large amount of money.”

“But I am one by birth,” Paul answered.

29 At once the men who were going to question Paul drew back from him; and the commander was frightened when he realized that Paul was a Roman citizen and that he had put him in chains.

Paul before the Council

30 The commander wanted to find out for sure what the Jews were accusing Paul of; so the next day he had Paul’s chains taken off and ordered the chief priests and the whole Council to meet. Then he took Paul and made him stand before them.

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1 Paul looked straight at the Council and said, “My fellow Israelites! My conscience is perfectly clear about the way in which I have lived before God to this very day.”

2 The High Priest Ananias ordered those who were standing close to Paul to strike him on the mouth.

3 Paul said to him, “God will certainly strike you—you whitewashed wall! You sit there to judge me according to the Law, yet you break the Law by ordering them to strike me!”

4 The men close to Paul said to him, “You are insulting God’s High Priest!”

5 Paul answered, “My fellow Israelites, I did not know that he was the High Priest. The scripture says, ‘You must not speak evil of the ruler of your people.’”

6 When Paul saw that some of the group were Sadducees and the others were Pharisees, he called out in the Council, “Fellow Israelites! I am a Pharisee, the son of Pharisees. I am on trial here because of the hope I have that the dead will rise to life!”

7 As soon as he said this, the Pharisees and Sadducees started to quarrel, and the group was divided. (

8 For the Sadducees say that people will not rise from death and that there are no angels or spirits; but the Pharisees believe in all three.)

9 The shouting became louder, and some of the teachers of the Law who belonged to the party of the Pharisees stood up and protested strongly: “We cannot find a thing wrong with this man! Perhaps a spirit or an angel really did speak to him!”

10 The argument became so violent that the commander was afraid that Paul would be torn to pieces. So he ordered his soldiers to go down into the group, get Paul away from them, and take him into the fort.

11 That night the Lord stood by Paul and said, “Don’t be afraid! You have given your witness for me here in Jerusalem, and you must also do the same in Rome.”

The Plot against Paul’s Life

12 The next morning some Jews met together and made a plan. They took a vow that they would not eat or drink anything until they had killed Paul.

13 There were more than forty who planned this together.

14 Then they went to the chief priests and elders and said, “We have taken a solemn vow together not to eat a thing until we have killed Paul.

15 Now then, you and the Council send word to the Roman commander to bring Paul down to you, pretending that you want to get more accurate information about him. But we will be ready to kill him before he ever gets here.”

16 But the son of Paul’s sister heard about the plot; so he went to the fort and told Paul.

17 Then Paul called one of the officers and said to him, “Take this young man to the commander; he has something to tell him.”

18 The officer took him, led him to the commander, and said, “The prisoner Paul called me and asked me to bring this young man to you, because he has something to say to you.”

19 The commander took him by the hand, led him off by himself, and asked him, “What do you have to tell me?”

20 He said, “The Jewish authorities have agreed to ask you tomorrow to take Paul down to the Council, pretending that the Council wants to get more accurate information about him.

21 But don’t listen to them, because there are more than forty men who will be hiding and waiting for him. They have taken a vow not to eat or drink until they have killed him. They are now ready to do it and are waiting for your decision.”

22 The commander said, “Don’t tell anyone that you have reported this to me.” And he sent the young man away.

Paul Is Sent to Governor Felix

23 Then the commander called two of his officers and said, “Get two hundred soldiers ready to go to Caesarea, together with seventy horsemen and two hundred spearmen, and be ready to leave by nine o’clock tonight.

24 Provide some horses for Paul to ride and get him safely through to Governor Felix.”

25 Then the commander wrote a letter that went like this:

26 “Claudius Lysias to His Excellency, Governor Felix: Greetings.

27 The Jews seized this man and were about to kill him. I learned that he is a Roman citizen, so I went with my soldiers and rescued him.

28 I wanted to know what they were accusing him of, so I took him down to their Council.

29 I found out that he had not done a thing for which he deserved to die or be put in prison; the accusation against him had to do with questions about their own law.

30 And when I was informed that there was a plot against him, at once I decided to send him to you. I have told his accusers to make their charges against him before you.”

31 The soldiers carried out their orders. They got Paul and took him that night as far as Antipatris.

32 The next day the foot soldiers returned to the fort and left the horsemen to go on with him.

33 They took him to Caesarea, delivered the letter to the governor, and turned Paul over to him.

34 The governor read the letter and asked Paul what province he was from. When he found out that he was from Cilicia,

35 he said, “I will hear you when your accusers arrive.” Then he gave orders for Paul to be kept under guard in the governor’s headquarters.

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The Case against Paul

1 Five days later the High Priest Ananias went to Caesarea with some elders and a lawyer named Tertullus. They appeared before Governor Felix and made their charges against Paul.

2 Then Paul was called in, and Tertullus began to make his accusation, as follows:

“Your Excellency! Your wise leadership has brought us a long period of peace, and many necessary reforms are being made for the good of our country.

3 We welcome this everywhere and at all times, and we are deeply grateful to you.

4 I do not want to take up too much of your time, however, so I beg you to be kind and listen to our brief account.

5 We found this man to be a dangerous nuisance; he starts riots among Jews all over the world and is a leader of the party of the Nazarenes.

6 He also tried to defile the Temple, and we arrested him.

8 If you question this man, you yourself will be able to learn from him all the things that we are accusing him of.”

9 The Jews joined in the accusation and said that all this was true.

Paul’s Defense before Felix

10 The governor then motioned to Paul to speak, and Paul said,

“I know that you have been a judge over this nation for many years, and so I am happy to defend myself before you.

11 As you can find out for yourself, it was no more than twelve days ago that I went to Jerusalem to worship.

12 The Jews did not find me arguing with anyone in the Temple, nor did they find me stirring up the people, either in the synagogues or anywhere else in the city.

13 Nor can they give you proof of the accusations they now bring against me.

14 I do admit this to you: I worship the God of our ancestors by following that Way which they say is false. But I also believe in everything written in the Law of Moses and the books of the prophets.

15 I have the same hope in God that these themselves have, namely, that all people, both the good and the bad, will rise from death.

16 And so I do my best always to have a clear conscience before God and people.

17 “After being away from Jerusalem for several years, I went there to take some money to my own people and to offer sacrifices.

18 It was while I was doing this that they found me in the Temple after I had completed the ceremony of purification. There was no crowd with me and no disorder.

19 But some Jews from the province of Asia were there; they themselves ought to come before you and make their accusations if they have anything against me.

20 Or let these who are here tell what crime they found me guilty of when I stood before the Council—

21 except for the one thing I called out when I stood before them: ‘I am being tried by you today for believing that the dead will rise to life.’”

22 Then Felix, who was well informed about the Way, brought the hearing to a close. “When the commander Lysias arrives,” he told them, “I will decide your case.”

23 He ordered the officer in charge of Paul to keep him under guard, but to give him some freedom and allow his friends to provide for his needs.

Paul before Felix and Drusilla

24 After some days Felix came with his wife Drusilla, who was Jewish. He sent for Paul and listened to him as he talked about faith in Christ Jesus.

25 But as Paul went on discussing about goodness, self-control, and the coming Day of Judgment, Felix was afraid and said, “You may leave now. I will call you again when I get the chance.”

26 At the same time he was hoping that Paul would give him some money; and for this reason he would call for him often and talk with him.

27 After two years had passed, Porcius Festus succeeded Felix as governor. Felix wanted to gain favor with the Jews so he left Paul in prison.

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Paul Appeals to the Emperor

1 Three days after Festus arrived in the province, he went from Caesarea to Jerusalem,

2 where the chief priests and the Jewish leaders brought their charges against Paul. They begged Festus

3 to do them the favor of having Paul come to Jerusalem, for they had made a plot to kill him on the way.

4 Festus answered, “Paul is being kept a prisoner in Caesarea, and I myself will be going back there soon.

5 Let your leaders go to Caesarea with me and accuse the man if he has done anything wrong.”

6 Festus spent another eight or ten days with them and then went to Caesarea. On the next day he sat down in the judgment court and ordered Paul to be brought in.

7 When Paul arrived, the Jews who had come from Jerusalem stood around him and started making many serious charges against him, which they were not able to prove.

8 But Paul defended himself: “I have done nothing wrong against the Law of the Jews or against the Temple or against the Roman Emperor.”

9 But Festus wanted to gain favor with the Jews, so he asked Paul, “Would you be willing to go to Jerusalem and be tried on these charges before me there?”

10 Paul said, “I am standing before the Emperor’s own judgment court, where I should be tried. I have done no wrong to the Jews, as you yourself well know.

11 If I have broken the law and done something for which I deserve the death penalty, I do not ask to escape it. But if there is no truth in the charges they bring against me, no one can hand me over to them. I appeal to the Emperor.”

12 Then Festus, after conferring with his advisers, answered, “You have appealed to the Emperor, so to the Emperor you will go.”

Paul before Agrippa and Bernice

13 Some time later King Agrippa and Bernice came to Caesarea to pay a visit of welcome to Festus.

14 After they had been there several days, Festus explained Paul’s situation to the king: “There is a man here who was left a prisoner by Felix;

15 and when I went to Jerusalem, the Jewish chief priests and elders brought charges against him and asked me to condemn him.

16 But I told them that we Romans are not in the habit of handing over any who are accused of a crime before they have met their accusers face-to-face and have had the chance of defending themselves against the accusation.

17 When they came here, then, I lost no time, but on the very next day I sat in the judgment court and ordered the man to be brought in.

18 His opponents stood up, but they did not accuse him of any of the evil crimes that I thought they would.

19 All they had were some arguments with him about their own religion and about a man named Jesus, who has died; but Paul claims that he is alive.

20 I was undecided about how I could get information on these matters, so I asked Paul if he would be willing to go to Jerusalem and be tried there on these charges.

21 But Paul appealed; he asked to be kept under guard and to let the Emperor decide his case. So I gave orders for him to be kept under guard until I could send him to the Emperor.”

22 Agrippa said to Festus, “I would like to hear this man myself.”

“You will hear him tomorrow,” Festus answered.

23 The next day Agrippa and Bernice came with great pomp and ceremony and entered the audience hall with the military chiefs and the leading men of the city. Festus gave the order, and Paul was brought in.

24 Festus said, “King Agrippa and all who are here with us: You see this man against whom all the Jewish people, both here and in Jerusalem, have brought complaints to me. They scream that he should not live any longer.

25 But I could not find that he had done anything for which he deserved the death sentence. And since he himself made an appeal to the Emperor, I have decided to send him.

26 But I have nothing definite about him to write to the Emperor. So I have brought him here before you—and especially before you, King Agrippa!—so that, after investigating his case, I may have something to write.

27 For it seems unreasonable to me to send a prisoner without clearly indicating the charges against him.”

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Paul Defends Himself before Agrippa

1 Agrippa said to Paul, “You have permission to speak on your own behalf.” Paul stretched out his hand and defended himself as follows:

2 “King Agrippa! I consider myself fortunate that today I am to defend myself before you from all the things these Jews accuse me of,

3 particularly since you know so well all the Jewish customs and disputes. I ask you, then, to listen to me with patience.

4 “All the Jews know how I have lived ever since I was young. They know how I have spent my whole life, at first in my own country and then in Jerusalem.

5 They have always known, if they are willing to testify, that from the very first I have lived as a member of the strictest party of our religion, the Pharisees.

6 And now I stand here to be tried because of the hope I have in the promise that God made to our ancestors—

7 the very thing that the twelve tribes of our people hope to receive, as they worship God day and night. And it is because of this hope, Your Majesty, that I am being accused by these Jews!

8 Why do you who are here find it impossible to believe that God raises the dead?

9 “I myself thought that I should do everything I could against the cause of Jesus of Nazareth.

10 That is what I did in Jerusalem. I received authority from the chief priests and put many of God’s people in prison; and when they were sentenced to death, I also voted against them.

11 Many times I had them punished in the synagogues and tried to make them deny their faith. I was so furious with them that I even went to foreign cities to persecute them.

Paul Tells of His Conversion

12 “It was for this purpose that I went to Damascus with authority and orders from the chief priests.

13 It was on the road at midday, Your Majesty, that I saw a light much brighter than the sun, coming from the sky and shining around me and the men traveling with me.

14 All of us fell to the ground, and I heard a voice say to me in Hebrew, ‘Saul, Saul! Why are you persecuting me? You are hurting yourself by hitting back, like an ox kicking against its owner’s stick.’

15 ‘Who are you, Lord?’ I asked. And the Lord answered, ‘I am Jesus, whom you persecute.

16 But get up and stand on your feet. I have appeared to you to appoint you as my servant. You are to tell others what you have seen of metoday and what I will show you in the future.

17 I will rescue you from the people of Israel and from the Gentiles to whom I will send you.

18 You are to open their eyes and turn them from the darkness to the light and from the power of Satan to God, so that through their faith in me they will have their sins forgiven and receive their place among God’s chosen people.’

Paul Tells of His Work

19 “And so, King Agrippa, I did not disobey the vision I had from heaven.

20 First in Damascus and in Jerusalem and then in the whole country of Israel and among the Gentiles, I preached that they must repent of their sins and turn to God and do the things that would show they had repented.

21 It was for this reason that these Jews seized me while I was in the Temple, and they tried to kill me.

22 But to this very day I have been helped by God, and so I stand here giving my witness to all, to small and great alike. What I say is the very same thing which the prophets and Moses said was going to happen:

23 that the Messiah must suffer and be the first one to rise from death, to announce the light of salvation to the Jews and to the Gentiles.”

24 As Paul defended himself in this way, Festus shouted at him, “You are mad, Paul! Your great learning is driving you mad!”

25 Paul answered, “I am not mad, Your Excellency! I am speaking the sober truth.

26 King Agrippa! I can speak to you with all boldness, because you know about these things. I am sure that you have taken notice of every one of them, for this thing has not happened hidden away in a corner.

27 King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know that you do!”

28 Agrippa said to Paul, “In this short time do you think you will make me a Christian?”

29 “Whether a short time or a long time,” Paul answered, “my prayer to God is that you and all the rest of you who are listening to me today might become what I am—except, of course, for these chains!”

30 Then the king, the governor, Bernice, and all the others got up,

31 and after leaving they said to each other, “This man has not done anything for which he should die or be put in prison.”

32 And Agrippa said to Festus, “This man could have been released if he had not appealed to the Emperor.”

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